Assam Congress MLA demands welfare board, social security for gig workers

Congress MLA Zubair Anam Mazumder on July 24 urged the Assam government to establish a dedicated welfare board and introduce a comprehensive social security framework for gig and platform workers, saying the rapidly growing workforce remains unrecognised despite powering a "parallel economy".

Moving a private member's resolution in the Assam Assembly, Mazumder called for legal and institutional safeguards for workers engaged in app-based transport, food delivery, e-commerce deliveries, logistics, home services and other digital platform-based jobs.

"The gig workers are not an invisible force; they are a parallel economy. They are people of flesh and blood, but we do not acknowledge them," Mazumder said, highlighting the lack of dignity and respect often faced by delivery personnel.

He also pointed to the discrimination faced by such workers, remarking that many residential apartments deny delivery agents access to lifts while allowing pets to use them.

The Congress legislator said gig workers currently have no social security benefits, no effective grievance redressal mechanism and their work conditions are largely dictated by algorithms.

"They do not have any social security. They do not have any grievance redressal system. Their entire work is determined by some algorithm," he said.

Mazumder argued that while changing public attitudes towards gig workers would take time, enacting laws to protect their rights could provide immediate relief. He noted that states such as Karnataka, Telangana, Bihar and Rajasthan have already set up welfare boards for gig workers and urged Assam to follow suit.

Responding to the resolution, Labour Welfare Minister Rameswar Teli said gig workers fall under the category of unorganised workers and that legislation governing them is framed by the Centre.

He added that the Union government has been undertaking labour law reforms, including the introduction of new labour codes last year, to strengthen the legal framework for workers in the unorganised sector.